The Biospark Order
by Nashew
Summary: When a Sparky named Ember finds a Biospark unconscious in the woods, she knows she's in for something pretty crazy. But an underground village and a dragon who wants revenge are just the start of this adventure! Rated T to be safe, for some violence.
1. Prologue

**Author's note: Hello everyone! Welcome to my first fanfiction! The prologue is very short, so bear with me, please. Also, I'm new at this, so if you have any tips, Please leave a review! Now, without further ado, enjoy!**

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It was pitch black and I was in the woods. Whispy woods, to be exact. It was also almost completely silent. The only sounds were my light footsteps and shallow breathing. I clutched my side and shut my eyes in pain. I was dying and I knew it. I pressed onward. I had to find civilization or my death was inevitable. It began to rain. I sighed angrily. "_I can't catch a break, can I?!_" I yelled to nobody in particular. I started running now, stomping through the woods, occasionally splashing through puddles, but I didn't care anymore. I suddenly saw light in the distance. I gasped and ran toward it. But before I could get there, I tripped and fell face-first into a puddle. Unfortunately, I lost consciousness a few moments later.

-End prologue-

-Nashew

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**Like I said, it's short. Please review, and Chapter 1 will be up shortly. Thanks for reading! :D**


	2. Chapter 1: A Strange Morning

**Author's note: Hello again! Here's chapter 1, which is considerably longer than the prologue. Here we're introduced to the main character, Ember, and we find out who the character in the prologue was. So read on!**

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I woke up. Great start, huh?

My name is Ember. I'm a Sparky, But not a normal one. Firstly, I'm white and red instead of the normal green and yellow. Also, I shoot fire instead of electricity. See, I was born with an odd genetic mutation which caused that. Of course, everyone in my village thought I was a total freak, but they let me stay. I assume it's because they didn't want to kick a girl out. That is, until the night I burned a house down. It was an accident, and nobody was hurt, but they kicked me out anyway.

So since then, I've been living in this cabin in Whispy Woods. It's a nice place, but it's so secluded, I never see anybody!

Anyway, I woke up one seemingly normal day, and walked outside to get some apples from a nearby tree. It was a beautiful, if slightly soggy, morning with mist still hanging in the air from last night's rain storm. I hopped through the woods, closer to the tree, my hops making squishing noises as I sank into the mud a bit... When I saw it. A biospark laying facedown in a mud puddle. I look around. "Hello?" I yell. No answer. I step forward to investigate. By all means, it should be dead. There's a gash in its side that was bleeding pretty badly, and of course, it was laying facedown in a puddle, so it should have drowned.

But it was definitely alive. Its body moved up and down very slowly, so it was breathing somehow. I readied my fire and got closer. I poked it. It didn't move. "Dude! Wake up!" I yelled. It stirred a little, but stayed there. "Hmm... well, I gotta get it into the cabin," I said, thinking out loud, "But I don't have hands." A few seconds went by, then I finally got an idea. "Ah_-HAH!_" I yelled.

I hopped quickly back to the cabin and activated my communicator. "Hello? Kody?" I said into it. A pause.  
"Hey Ember!" He finally replied. "What's going on?"  
"I need your help. How soon can you get here?"  
"I can be there in about an hour. What happened?"  
"I'll explain when you get here. Hurry!"  
"Okay, I'll be there soon."  
The line went dead, and I turned off the communicator.

See, Kody is a medic friend of mine. He works in the Arena, which is really cool. He's a black kirby and wears green shoes. We met by chance one day when I fell down in a pit by accident. I got scraped up pretty bad, but he helped me out and even set up a communicator line between his office and my cabin in case I got injured again.

I hopped back outside and over to the apple tree, balancing a basket on my head, and managed to knock some apples down from the branches like I did every morning. Then I hopped back inside and ate a few while waiting for Kody.

By the time he showed up, the mist was gone, and it was looking like a pretty nice day. I hopped outside when I saw him. "Hi Kody!" I yelled, as he was still a fair distance off. He grinned and yelled, "Hi Ember!" When he got close enough, I said "Follow me!" And hopped off toward the mysterious Biospark. I stopped hopping when I got there and let Kody catch up. When he did, he said, "What happened to it?"  
"I dunno," I replied, "When I went out to get some apples this morning, I found it like this." He knelt down to examine it. "Hey Kody?" I said.  
"Hmm?" He replied, not looking up from examining the wound.  
"How is it alive if it's facedown in a puddle?" He chuckled.  
"Because it's a Biospark, which is a Ninja. And Ninjas have their methods." That didn't make much sense, but I got the feeling he didn't feel like explaining, so I let it go.

After a bit of waiting, Kody finally said, "Let's get it inside."  
"I was going to do that, but I don't have hands, so..." he laughed.  
"It's okay. Get the door, will ya? I'll drag it inside."  
"Sure!"

Once we got it inside, he got a few things out of his medical bag to clean the wound up. He had to remove the Biospark's Ninja garb to do this. Oddly, Biosparks just look like black kirbies under the Ninja garb, so I wondered why they wore it. Kody held something up. "By the way, Ember. This is how he was breathing." I looked at the object. It was a reed.  
"Huh?"  
"Ya see, Biosparks take a lot of safety precautions. This reed wraps around their heads so that they can breathe if they ever need to lay facedown in water."  
"Oh... That's really cool!" I said, "But why would they ever need to lay facedown in water?"  
"In case they need to fake being dead for any reason." _Well, that makes sense..._

"So why do they wear the Ninja garb?" I asked after a few more minutes of silence. Instead of replying, he simply gestured to the table beside him. On it was a rather large pile of things. The reed, about twenty Ninja stars, and a small bag. _I guess they need it to carry around their arsenal._ "Oh."

Finally, Kody finished the examination. "Well?" I asked when he stood up.  
"It's odd," he started, "It seems he passed out from exhaustion."  
"So... he was tired." He smirked.  
"I suspect he was running from someone. Or something." _Gee, that's not creepy at all._

End of Chapter 1

-Nashew

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**Thanks again for reading! **

**Chapter 3 hasn't been written yet, but is in progress.**


	3. Chapter 2: Zack

**ARRGH, I'm sorry this took so long! _ I've had it finished for a while now, but just haven't had the motivation to post it! **

**It should be noted that when I said Chapter 3 in the previous chapter, I meant chapter 2.**

**Anyway, without fiurther ado, here's chapter 2!**

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After waiting for about an hour, the Biospark finally woke up. Kody motioned to me that I should stay put, and slowly got up and walked toward him.  
"Hello," Kody said cautiously. The biospark sat up and examined his wound.  
"It's not bleeding any more." He said, seemingly to himself. Kody had stopped about three feet away from where the Biospark was sitting.

Kody said, "We found you laying in a puddle in the woods outside. Do you remember how that happened?" The Biospark got to his feet slowly and replied,  
"I would prefer to know who my captors are before answering any questions." Kody blinked.  
"I'm Kody, and this is Ember. But we're not your captors, we're just taking care of you."

The Biospark gave Kody a hard look, and finally replied with, "If you say so. As for why I was unconscious in the woods, I was injured and trying to find a place to rest. The last thing I remember was seeing a light in the distance and then falling."  
"Well, the light was probably this cabin, because you were found about fifty feet away from here." Kody replied.  
"Well that solves one mystery," The Biospark muttered. I decided to say something at this point.  
"So what's your name?" Kody appeared to cringe. The Biospark looked at me, and replied,  
"My name is Zack. I'm of the fifth legion of the Biospark Order."_  
Biospark order? Never heard of it...  
_"What's the Biospark order?" Kody asked, voicing my thoughts. Zack hesitated.  
"I can't really tell you. It's top-secret."

Just then, he tensed up and seemed to be listening to something. After a short pause, I said,  
"What is it?" He held up a hand, his eyes narrowing. I exchanged a glance with Kody. He shrugged. Then I heard something. _***POP POP***_  
"...What is that?" I whispered. Kody's eyes widened as he heard it too.  
"I think your cabin's on fire!" He said, beginning to walk towards the source of the noise. Zack grabbed the brim of Kody's hat, bringing him to a stop.

And then the house exploded.

Or that's what it felt like. The house was suddenly engulfed in flames all around us. I panicked. Kody just stood there as if not knowing what to do. Zach, however, jumped into action as if he'd done this a million times before.  
_For all I know, he had.  
_He grabbed me and hoisted me over his shoulder, yelled at Kody to get moving and started going toward the door. He opened the door but then immediately slammed it shut.  
"Is there a back door?!" He asked me. I had to think for a second.  
"Yeah! It's back there!" I said, trying to gesture to the back room. He understood and started running. Meanwhile, Kody was still standing in the middle of the room.  
"Kody!" I screamed, "Come ON!" He held up a stub. Then he disappeared as Zack carried me into the back room. That's when I told him to put me down. He did, and I hopped back out to the main room.

There was Kody, standing in the middle of an ice block. _  
...Woah.  
_"Kody?" I called.  
"Get out of here!" He yelled, his voice muffled a bit. I wasn't sure how the ice was gonna protect him from the blazing fire, but I reluctantly turned and hopped toward the back room. Then the roof caved in. I got hit by a beam and was knocked out cold.

-End of Chapter 2-

-Nashew

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**It's a bit short... Sorry. **

**Once again, please feel free to review, and chapter 3 is coming soon!**


	4. Chapter 3: A Brief Journey

**Hello again everyone! Time for chapter 3! I'm pretty sure it's the longest chapter so far.**

**So enjoy! :D**

I blinked my eyes open. It occurred to me that something was wrong, but I couldn't figure out what it was. Then I looked around at the charred, smoldering remains of my cabin and realized something: I should be dead. _The whole cabin burned down with me and... Kody... _"Kody!" I yelled, looking around frantically. He wasn't nearby. "Ko-" I was cut off by a hand covering my mouth. I struggled, but the grip remained firm. "Calm down, will ya?" I heard Zack say. _Zack? _I stopped struggling and he let go. I turned around. He was standing there, his Ninja garb slightly burned, but looking fine. "Are you okay?" He asked me.  
"I... I think so." I replied, "but I'm not exactly sure how."  
"Me either, but that's not exactly important right now. We've gotta get moving. It's probably going to come back." I gave him a bewildered look.  
"What's gonna come back? What are you running from, and why did it burn my cabin down?!" He looked down and sighed.  
"Look, I'll explain everything later, okay?" He said, "For now, we need to get moving!" I sighed, annoyed.  
"Fine. But we need to find Kody first."  
"No. He's gone. I don't know where he is, but I assure you, he's alive." I stopped to think for a moment. _Should I go with him? And can I trust him? _Both answers were a resounding "no," but considering there was apparently danger...  
"Alright. Lead the way." I said.

We walked through the woods for about an hour, not saying a word to each other. Occasionally, he would stop and duck behind a tree or under a bush, motioning for me to follow suit, which I did.

Finally, we emerged from the woods into Cornbread Desert. "Why are we here?" I asked him.  
"Just keep pace, you'll see." He replied. I sighed.

We walked through the desert for around half an hour before Zack finally stopped. What was in front of us was an odd cactus formation. It appeared to be two cactuses (cacti?) that had grown twisted together.  
"...Seriously? That's why we've been walking all this time? A cactus?" He rolled his eyes.  
"It's not just a cactus. It's a portal."  
"Yeah, right."  
"Just watch."  
And with that, he grabbed the pouch I had seen with his equipment earlier, reached in, and threw some sort of powder at the formation. It began to untwist until it formed what looked like a doorway.  
"How in the world...?" I said in disbelief. Zack chuckled.  
"Magic. Follow me, and I'll introduce you to the Biospark Order." And with that, he walked through the arch and vanished.

I approached hesitantly, examining the arch. It seemed safe enough, so I hopped through. What was on the other side left me dumbstruck.

It appeared to be a huge underground civilization. And when I say 'huge,' I mean it. The ceiling was so high, I couldn't see it, and I could barely see any of the walls either. Zack and I currently stood on a large balcony that overlooked the entire cave. Down below us, I could see a village consisting of a whole lot of small huts that appeared to be made of wood. And the center of the village was what appeared to be a fountain which was spewing water. There seemed to be some form of light source coming from above us, but I couldn't see anything.

When I finally found my voice again, I said, "...How in the world...?" Zack chuckled.  
"Impressed?"  
"Very. What _is_ this place?"  
"This is the Biospark Order. It's a huge community where Biosparks can live safely."  
"Safe from what?"  
"Biosparks get into a lot of danger. A lot more than what I'm facing."  
I glared at him. "And exactly what is it that _you're_ facing?"  
"I can't tell-"  
"**_NO._** Enough with the secrets now. Whatever's chasing you burned down my cabin and almost killed me. You owe me an explanation!"  
He looked at the ground and sighed.  
"Fine." He said, "I'll tell you everything."  
And so, he told me the story.

"About a year ago, right after I came here, the Biospark Order found me and brought me here. Initiation requires you to complete a mission, and mine was to get a treasure from a dragon. I successfully completed the mission, but the dragon saw me. It's been chasing me ever since then, wanting it's treasure back."

That's so cliché it's not even funny.

"So then... the dragon is what injured you?" I asked.  
"Yeah." He replied.  
A moment of silence followed as I looked around below us again. Zack broke the silence by saying, "Anyway... I need to introduce you to the village leader."  
"Why?"  
"Because you're now a guest here, and when a guest arrives, the village leader has to be told."  
"Oh... well okay! Let's go."

So we did. There was a really long staircase down from the balcony, and after we got to the bottom, it was another fifteen minute walk through the village to get to the leader's hut. When we finally reached it, we walked in, and I was greeted by a red Biospark. Zack bowed and said, "Master Markus, we have a guest visiting the village." Markus nodded, turned to me and said,  
"Hello and welcome./ I hope you enjoy your stay./ And what is your name?"  
_Hmm. He talks sort of funny..._  
"My name is Ember, sir." I said respectfully.  
"Very nice to meet you./ I'll let Zack show you around./ I'm very busy."  
"Okay." I said, slightly unsure of how to respond. Zack turned to me and said, "Ember, I'm gonna have to ask you to wait outside for a minute... I need to discuss something with Markus." I nodded and walked out.

A few minutes later, Zack emerged from the hut and said, "Shall I give you the grand tour?"  
"Sure!" I said.

He showed me around the whole village. There was a restaurant, a town hall, a store... it seemed like a normal town, except it was, y'know... underground.  
"So where does the light come from?" I asked, because looking up, I hadn't been able to figure it out. Zack shrugged.  
"I'm really not sure. I haven't figured it out, and everyone I've asked just tells me it's magic."  
The lights flickered. I looked up.  
"Is that normal?" He didn't answer, so I looked at him. He seemed to be frozen in a state of panic.  
"Zack?" I said, "What's going on...?"

And then the alarms started. Deafeningly loud alarms, with bright red lights to accompany them. Then I became aware of a different light source. A fire. The balcony was on fire! I caught a glimpse of movement above me and looked up.

There was a massive dragon flying through the cave.

-End of chapter 3!-

-Nashew


	5. Chapter 4: To the Dragon's Lair

**Author's Note: Sorry this took so long to get out! Had a bit of writer's block for a while, then I got caught up in reading another fanfiction... So yeah this suffered. But I digress.  
Hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

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I frantically looked over at Zack. He was staring at the sky, frozen in place. "Zack!" I yelled. He didn't move. The dragon was breathing fire all over the village, setting huts ablaze instantly. I felt helpless standing in the middle of all this chaos. I noticed the dragon flying straight toward Zack and I. "ZACK!" I screamed right as it started blowing a stream of fire at us. I flinched as the fire made contact with me. But despite the temperature suddenly rising, I didn't feel anything. I looked around me at the blazing fire. I wasn't being burned. Zack, on the other hand, was currently on fire, running around screaming. "**AHHHHH! PUT IT OUT PUT IT OUT!**" _Some Ninja._

Suddenly, I was in excessive pain. The fire was gone, but I was feeling the burn now. "**AUUUGH!**"I screamed. I heard Zack's voice faintly, followed by what sounded like Markus, but I couldn't tell what they were saying over my pain. My vision blurred, and I blacked out.

* * *

I awoke laying on a bed of straw on the floor. I opened my eyes and sat up. I was in a large room with a bunch of other (empty) beds of straw on the floor. I looked around. There was nobody here. "Hello?" I said. It simply echoed. I stood up and looked for an exit. There was a staircase leading upward, so I hopped up and outside of the building. I was now in the village again outside an infirmary. I looked around at what seemed to be the ruins of the village. "Hello?" I yelled.  
"Hey." Came a voice from my left. I turned quickly toward the voice. It was Zack. "Glad you're awake."  
"Uh... thanks." I said, "What happened?" He shrugged.  
"You blacked out when they dumped water on us. It seemed like the water hurt you."  
"Maybe... maybe it did." I replied.  
"But why?"  
"Because..." I started, but didn't finish.  
After a few seconds, he said, "Yes...?"  
"Because I..." I sighed. _It's gotta be my fire thing. Nothing else makes sense. _"Never mind." _I'm not ready to trust him with that information just yet./_  
He narrowed his eyes at me. "You're hiding something."  
"Yes, yes I am."  
He sighed. I decided to change the subject.  
"So where is everyone?" I said, noticing the village was deserted. He sighed again.  
"The dragon took almost everyone in the village."  
"...Why?"  
"She couldn't find her treasure, so she took those who know where it is."  
"Just not you?" I asked, suspicious.  
"I'd wager she thought she killed me when she breathed fire on both of us."  
"Oh..."  
"She also took your friend Kody."  
Now THAT caught my attention.  
"**WHAT?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT BEFORE?!**"I screamed. He backed up, clearly not expecting that reaction. If I had hands, I'd have smacked him.  
"Woah, calm down! It's not a big deal!" He said, holding his hands in front of him.  
"**HOW IS IT NOT A BIG DEAL?!**"  
"If you'd calm down a second, I could tell you!" He said angrily. I glared at him and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself before I exploded.  
"Alright, go ahead and explain to me how my best friend being kidnapped by a dragon isn't a big deal." I said through gritted teeth. (Or it would have been gritted teeth if I had a mouth...)  
"Because we can rescue him - and the rest of the village quite easily."  
"Yeah?" I said sarcastically, "How we gonna do that? Walk into the dragon's lair and loot the place?"  
"Exactly!" He said enthusiastically.  
"...Wait, what?"  
"It's as simple as that!"  
"You call raiding a dragon's lair simple?!"  
"Of course! You just have to be stealthy!"

...Great.

* * *

Well, Zack quickly found out that I'm no master of stealth.

"Hey, keep it down, will ya?" He said, walking silently throught the woods as I hopped noisily beside him.  
I glared at him. "Easy for you to say... you have feet!" He rolled his eyes and started hopping along beside me, absolutely silent. "Oh, shut up!" I yelled angrily. If I could've seen his mouth, I'm sure it would've been broken out in a huge grin.

We eventually reached the clearing where my house used to be and kept walking. I glanced back sadly. Where was I gonna live now? I decided to put it out of my mind for now, but Zack didn't let me.  
"Ya know, I lost my house today too." He said.  
"Yeah but you lived in a village. You've got people to help you." He gave me a curious look.  
"And you don't?"  
"Besides Kody, no. My village..." I stopped. I still wasn't ready to share my life story with him.  
"Okay, I get it. Your village kicked you out because you're some kind of criminal, right?" He said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes.  
"Okay, you want my story? Fine. I'll tell you." I said angrily.  
"No, I wasn-" he started, but I cut him off by bursting out in flame.  
"**AUGH WHAT THE HECK?!**"He screamed, stumbling away from me, eyes wide with fear. I cut the fire off.  
"And THAT'S why my village kicked me out." I said and kept walking.  
He sat on the ground, eyes wide. Finally, he stood up and ran up beside me. "So what you're saying is..." he started, "Your village kicked you out because you conduct fire instead of electricity?"  
"Pretty much sums it up." I replied.  
"And that's why getting hit with water hurt you..."  
"Probably."

After that, we walked in silence for about an hour. Zack broke the silence when he saw the dragon's lair in the distance.  
"There it is."  
"Where?" I said, looking around. There was literally nothing but woods around us.  
"You're telling me you can't see the giant cave?" I looked at him.  
"Yeah, that's what I'm saying. What are you talking about?" He raised an eyebrow. (Or I assumed he did from the way his eyes changed underneath the Ninja garb.) He grabbed his bag of powder and threw some in my face. It burned when it made contact with my eyes.  
"Augh!" I yelled, blinking furiously. _It's times like these that I wish I had hands._  
When the burning wore off, I glared at Zack.  
"What the HECK was that for?!" I yelled. He gestured to where he was apparantly seeing the dragon's lair. I looked in that direction and forgot my anger.  
Suddenly, a massive cave was there. Like, five feet away from me.  
"How the...?" I gasped. Judging from his eyes, I guessed that Zack smirked at me.  
"I forgot there are some things normal people can't see. That powder lets you see beyond what's normally visible."  
"That's... awesome!" I yelled. It echoed through the cave.  
"Are you ready?" Zack asked me. I gulped._ Am I ready for this? ...Of course I am! I have to save Kody!_  
"More than ready." I said, getting a determined look on my face.

With that, we entered the dragon's lair, neither of us knowing exactly what we were getting into.

-End of Chapter 4!-

-Nashew

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**Author's note: Once again, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!  
A quick thank you to Ecaroh914 for reviewing every chapter! I assure you, I read every review you guys post, and reviews definitely encourage me to keep going with this. **

**See ya next chapter! **


	6. Chapter 5: Legends

**Author's Note: Sorry this took so long to get out! ^^' Hope you enjoy this LONG chapter where a bunch of caraziness happens!**

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What we were getting into, it seemed at first, was a whole lotta darkness. And a terrible stench.

"Yech!" I said. "It smells awful in here!" Zack gave me a look.

"You expected a lovely vanilla scent?"

"Well, no." I replied, slightly embarrassed.

We walked on, not able to see very well, occasionally tripping on stuff. After the tenth time I tripped, I let out a frustrated growl and released some fire, lighting up the room for a few seconds. I froze, because when it lit up, I could clearly see the massive form of a dragon in front of us.

"Did you see that just now?" I whispered.

"Yep. Good thing you did that. We probably would've-"

He was cut off by what sounded like a combination of a growl and a snore. Zack chuckled softly.

"Well, well. It seems she's asleep." He whispered.

"Well that's good anyway. But how are we supposed to find everyone?" I whispered back.

"Oh, don't worry about that..." He whispered, "Listen."

And then he whistled a short, 3-note tone (Low, then high, then low again). A few seconds later, I heard the tone again from the other side of the room.

"Found 'em." He muttered. "Now, follow me, and _be quiet._"

We walked (hopped in my case) across the room, Zack whistling the tone softly every few seconds. I tried to be quiet. I really did. But the inevitable happened, and I tripped over something loud. I cringed and just stood there (I didn't fall when I tripped), waiting to hear the roar that would signal the dragon's awakening. But it didn't come. After a few seconds of silence, Zack sighed with relief.

"Maybe you should stay put?" He suggested quietly.

"No. Hold on." I whispered back.

I wasn't sure if this was gonna work, but I tried it anyway. I slowly released a stream of fire, trying to maintain a steady flame. It actually worked, and the room had enough light to see.

"Why didn't you do that earlier?" Zack muttered, and started walking along again, whistling the tone to find his comrades.

Now that I could see, I was able to follow without killing our stealth. Finally, we reached a large iron cage where I could see a bunch of Biosparks huddled together.

"Guys!" Zack exclaimed quietly, "Is everyone present?"

"We are all here, Zack./  
And somebody else as well./  
Someone named Kody." I assumed that was Markus because of the odd speech.

"Kody's there?" I said.

"Ember?" I heard Kody's voice from the back of the cage.

"Kody!" I said, trying to keep quiet. _He's alive!_

"Shhhh!" Kody (along with a few of the Biosparks) said.

"Sorry." I muttered.

"Where's the key to this cage?" Zack asked Markus.

"There is no key, Zack./  
The prison is melted shut./  
You can't unlock it."

I stepped up to the cage. "It could be melted back open, right?" I said.

"Potentially," Said a Biospark off to my right, "But it'd have to be hot enough."

"Who's gonna do that?" Kody chimed in from the back. Apparantly he couldn't see me, because I was currently on fire. I ignored him.

"Everyone stand back." I said, stepping up to the bars. I concentrated hard and managed to get my fire hot enough. The bars started melting. A few seconds later, the cage was opened and multiple Biosparks were walking out silently.

Kody just stood there at the back looking shocked. I hopped into the cage.

"Well... This must be a shock to ya." I said with a chuckle. He didn't reply. He simply held up his right hand and it started frosting up until it looked like a ball of ice.

"What the...?" I said incredulously. Without responding, he held his hand up to my face and touched it. I almost recoiled, but found I couldn't move.

"Kody, what are you doing?" He didn't answer.

Zack walked into the cage just then.

"Uh... Am I interrupting-" He started, but just then, a bright light exploded around us. I tried to scream, but found I couldn't. I fainlty heard a roar behind me.

Oh no... was that the dragon?

Then the light died away, and suddenly I was no longer looking up at Kody. I was level with his face. There was a new, weird feeling under me and on my sides. I looked down and saw two red things underneath me. Kody stumbled backwards. Zack yelled something, but I couldn't hear very well.

"Kody..." I said, "What did you just do?"

"I... wow, I had my suspicions, but... wow."

"What...?"

"I'll explain later. For now, you should know that you're now a white Kirby with red feet and the Spark ability." I held my stubs up to my face.

"What... How?!" I said, my eyes widening.

"Like I said, I'll explain later. The dragon's awake. Can you move?" I tried it out. After stumbling, I got used to the feet and walked out of the cage, Kody behind me. The Biosparks were doing their best to fight the (very angry) dragon. But it was pretty much lighting everyone on fire. Except for Zack and Markus, who were looking at us suspiciously. I assumed Zack had run out of the cage after the dragon woke up.

"Last I checked, Ember..." Zack started, "You were a fire-spewing Sparky."

"Yeah, well guess what. I'm not anymore." I said. "Now can we start fighting this thing?"

"Well if you'd like to get killed, be my guest" chimed in a random Biospark off to the side. I glared at him.

"Does this dragon breathe fire?" Kody said.

"Yeah..." Zack said, "Why?"

Kody didn't answer. Instead, he turned into a wheel and zoomed toward the dragon, mixing the wheel power with his ice elemental abilities, and charged straight through the dragon's massive form. A loud roar echoed through through the cavern. We heard Kody scream, "RUN!" So we did. Past the dragon and out into the long section of the cave that Zack and I stumbled through. We were shortly joined by Kody, and then made it outside.

We had to keep running for a while. Finally, we came to the clearing where my house used to be and stopped there. Well, Kody, Zack, Markus and I did. The rest of the Biosparks kept running, presumably back to their village.

"I believe we have some things to talk about." Kody stated, looking at me. I was about to answer, but Markus interjected.

"Do none of you three.../  
Know of the prophecy/  
Of elementals?"

I was the only one with no clue. Zack and Kody seemed to know exactly what was going on.

"Uh... no?" I said.

"I'll explain." Said Kody. "I'll start with this: I used to be a Wheelie."

"Woah, what?!" I exclaimed. As long as I had known him, he had been a Kirby.

"That's right," Kody said, "Years before I became a medic, I was a black and green Wheelie. And for some reason, I could freeze things." He held up his stub and made it freeze for emphasis. "Well, an accident happened where I accidentally froze the village bully into a massive Wheelie-sicle."

"That sounds almost like what happened to me..." I muttered.

"Anyway, they kicked me out of the village after that, so I was stuck with nowhere to live. I went to the Arena to try and make a living. I wasn't very good at fighting until I started using the ice. After that, I was unstoppable. I rose to the top quickly, and would have been the champion... if it weren't for Redtro."

"Who?" I asked.

"Redtro was an upcoming newbie fighter. He was amazing,and right before my match with the champion, he challenged me, and beat me. Unfortunately, he also injured me badly. Actually popped my tire. I couldn't fight any more at all. Even after they patched it up, I couldn't move too fast or I'd risk ripping the patch off. So, after I could drive again, I left the Arena and went to live in the woods for a while. After a few weeks, I got struck by lightning in a freak storm. When I woke up, I looked like I do now."

"Okay..." I said, "So... what's your point with all this?"

"It is as I said/  
The prophecy I mentioned/  
The elementals." Markus said.

"The elements..." I said, "Like... Kody is ice, I'm fire, and... what else?"

"There are eight elements. Fire and ice, in addition to lightning, wind, water, stone, darkness, and light." Zack stated matter-of-factly, as if he had known all this his whole life.

"So there are elementals for each element, then?" I asked.

"Yes. We're the first two, and-" he was cut off by Markus.

"Actually, Kody.../  
You're wrong about that statement./  
We are the first **three**."

"Wait... you're..." Kody's eyes widened. Markus raised a hand in the air and it started crackling with electricity.

"You thought it was chance?/  
**I** used lightning to change you/  
All those years ago."

"Ya see," Zack said, "The Biospark Order exists not only to defend Biosparks... but also to gather the Elementals. So who better to lead us than the Lightning Elemental himself?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I had just found out about this thing, and we already had three out of eight elementals?

"Wait..." I said, "why do we need to gather the Elementals?" Zack and Markus exchanged a glance.

"Well... because the world's ending soon unless we do." Zack said.

-End of Chapter 5!-

-Nashew

* * *

**Author's Note: sarcasm WOAAHHH HOW ORIGINAL. /sarcasm Anyway, Thanks for reading, and I'll see you back for chapter 5! :D**


	7. Chapter 6: The Quest Begins!

-A brief interlude-

A Waddle Doo, black in color, stood alone, overlooking the land below the cliff on which he stood. If Waddle Doos could frown, this one would be doing just that right now.

He glared down at the village below him with distaste. The village he grew up in. The village where everybody he hated currently resided.

"I will have my revenge..." he muttered. Then he raised his stub defiantly and shouted, "**Do you hear me?! I will destroy all of you!**" He stormed away, satisfied with his oath. His previously sapphire blue eye was starting to slowly fade to crimson red. He then walked into the shadow of a tree and vanished.

* * *

I opened my eyes, and for a brief moment, I didn't remember where I was. Then I saw the campfire still burning. It was still dark out. Then I remembered the majorly big quest we had all started yesterday.

The quest to gather the elementals and stop the world's destruction. I remembered the conversation from yesterday afternoon...

"The **world's** ending?" I shouted. "That's kinda a big deal!"

"Calm yourself, Ember/  
We can nip it in the bud/  
If we-" Markus's strange speech mode was cut off by me freaking out some more.

"If we what?! We're just supposed to go find these strangers and say, 'Hey guess what, the world's ending and you get to help save it! No big deal.'"

"Relax, Ember!" Zack said. "It's not exactly a hard mission."

"Says the one who doesn't have to come along! Why are you even involved here? You're nothing special!" I instantly regretted that last statement as Zack looked pained by my words. He looked at the blackened, still-smoldering remains of my hut behind me and didn't say anything, although his fists were clenched.

"Zack..." I started, intending to apologize, but he cut me off.

"No, it's okay. You're... you're right. I mean, I don't have elemental powers or anything like that... but... I mean, Markus is my sensei, and if he's going, I'm going." There was a pause.

"No, Zack. You can't come./  
Although I'd like to let you,/  
It just would not work." If Zack looked hurt before, he looked devastated now.

"But... Markus, I... why?!"

"Because, apprentice.../  
With me not there, The Order.../  
Will need a Sensei." There was a stunned silence, and then,  
"You want me to lead them?! T-to train new recruits?!" Zack looked frantic. "I-I can't possibly accept that honor! I don't know what I'm doing!"

"But you've been trained, Zack./  
Mentored to lead The Order/  
In my long absence." Another stunned silence followed. Finally, with a determined look on his face, Zack said,

"I... I accept my role as... as Sensei." If I could've seen his mouth, I'm sure Markus would've been smiling.

"Thanks, Zacharius./  
I know you will rule wisely./  
Farewell and goodbye." Zack flinched a little at his full name being stated.

"Goodbye, Markus." He said. Then he turned around and began the walk back through the woods to the desert.

* * *

So now we were down to three travelers. But with any luck, we'd soon be up to eight. Then I realized the dream I had just had was probably about one of them. A Black Waddle Doo, kicked out of his village? Sounds like the rest of us. Well... except Markus.

"Ember, you should sleep./  
We have a long day ahead/  
With some hard travel." I jumped a little. I had forgotten that Markus was on watch duty.

"Sorry. I had a dream." He gave me an inquisitive look which was pretty much asking me to explain. "How about I tell you and Kody about it in the morning?" I said. Markus nodded and turned back to watching. I laid back down and closed my eyes. Pretty soon, I was dreaming again.

* * *

A lone, normally-colored Waddle Doo stood guard by the gate of a village. He yawned.

"Man, I hate standing guard... Nothing ever happens." He twirled his spear on the tip of his stub in boredom. Then, before he even knew what hit him, he was blasted backwards into the gate and was unconscious instantly.

The black Waddle Doo from before stepped out of the shadow he was concealed in. He walked slowly toward the village gate and ripped it off its hinges, seemingly with no effort. He walked into the village, balls of shadow growing on his stubs, the darkness reflecting in his now crimson red eyes.

* * *

"...ber!"

"Hey, Ember! Wake up!"

"YO! Ember!"

"Is she normally/  
This difficult to wake up?/  
Because-"

"No, she isn't..."

I opened my eyes and was looking up into the concerned eyes of Kody and slightly annoyed eyes of Markus.

"Uh... Why are you staring at me?" I asked.

"Geez, Ember... we've been trying to wake you up for like, five minutes!" Kody said, offering me a stub to help me up. I took it and stood.

"Sorry. Nightmares." I muttered.

"Nightmares? Markus told me you had a dream, but a nightmare?" Kody looked concerned.

"Actually... I'm not really sure they were dreams at all... they were too vivid... I think they were, like... visions or something."

"Well, what did you see?"

"There was a Black Waddle Doo... and he attacked the Waddle Doo village. I think he might be the elemental of darkness...?"

"I am thinking that/  
we should head to the village/  
That you just described."

"Yeah, this could be a lead, Ember!" Kody said excitedly. "Let's go!"

And so we did. Kody had been to the Waddle Doo village a few times before for medical stuff, so he knew where it was. But when we got there...

"Wait a minute... this place looks terrible!" Kody said.

And it really did. There were several holes blasted in the outer wall, there was smoke billowing from several places inside the village, the gates were laying on the ground, and when we got up to the entrance, we saw the guard laying there unconscious, flat on his face, his spear laying cracked in half a few feet away.

"This place looks horrible..." I said. Kody kneeled down and checked the guard's pulse. After a few seconds, he announced,

"He's alive. It looks to me like he was slammed against the gates with considerable force..." I wandered inside the village and gasped. It looked even worse than I thought. There were Waddle Doos laying all over the streets, hopefully alive, but it didn't look good. Buildings were on fire, some were collapsed, and some were blown to bits. Kody and Markus walked up behind me.

"What... what did this?!" Kody said, gesturing wildly.

"I did." Said a cold voice down an alley to our right. We turned quickly to the source of the voice, but couldn't see anybody. And then a form emerged from the shadows. Like, literally. He wasn't just hiding in the shadow, he was hiding **_in_** the shadow. Like, he had become a part of it.

Now that he had emerged, he walked up to us. I stepped behind Kody. I had seen what this guy could do, and I admit it: I was scared.

"So it was you then?/  
Why would you attack this place?/  
What did they do wrong?" Markus said, taking charge of the situation.

"...Was that haiku? ...Weirdo." The Black Doo laughed. "Anyway, I attacked them because they threw me out! Just cuz I'm different. So now I have my revenge."

"Revenge? A bad choice./  
Now-" Markus was cut off by the black Doo throwing a ball of pure darkness right at Markus's face. He was blasted backwards through a still-intact window into a building.

"Ugh, that geezer's haiku makes me want to punch a wall." The Doo said angrily. Needless to say, that move made Kody pretty angry. He turned into a wheel and drove straight towards the Doo. Without even flinching, the Doo dodged Kody and backed against a wall. Kody whipped around and drove at the Doo again, this time mixing the ice element in. At the last second, the Doo jumped, causing Kody to slam face-first into the wall.

"KODY!" I yelled. The Doo walked toward me slowly. I was too freaked out to think straight, so I backed up until I was pinned against a wall. He was getting closer and closer. Finally, he was about a foot away. Another ball of darkness started forming in his hand. Just as he was about to hit me with it, I screamed, and because of my absolute panic at the moment, released both fire and electricity at the same time. The Doo was thrown backwards and paralyzed, laying on the ground flat on his back. I stood there, my eyes wide, having no idea how that just happened. Then I remembered something. When I first transformed, Kody told me I now had the Spark ability. I hadn't thought about it, but it made sense. Kody had the Wheel ability because he used to be a wheelie. I have the Spark ability because I used to be a Sparky.

By the time I had figured this out, the Black Doo was over the paralysis and getting to his feet, groaning. He angrily held out his stub to conjure another dark ball...

...But nothing happened. He looked at his stub, confused. Then he groaned.

"Ugh... I've reached my limit." He glared at me. "You win this time. But I'll be back. And I swear, next time, I will kill you!" With that shout, he jumped into a shadow and was gone. I stood there stunned, staring at the spot he had jumped into.

Is this guy really supposed to be on our side?

-End of Chapter 6!-

-Nashew

* * *

**Author's Note: Wow. I didn't expect to get this chapter out that fast... But I read some writing tips last night and got all motivated. Hopefully they helped. xD**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and I'll see ya back for Chapter 7!**


	8. Chapter 7: Aftermath

**Author's opening note: I'm going to start replying to reviews in this part of the chapters. So here are my responses (Well, response.) to Chapter 6's reviews (Well, review.)**

** Ecaroh914: 1. YAY.  
2. Eeyup.  
3. Oh, no this is much worse. :D  
4. Well, the story is rated T for mild violence, not language. And plus, I don't use that kind of language. :P**

* * *

**Also, just a quick note: This brief interlude in the beginning isn't another dream. Enjoy!**

* * *

**-A brief interlude-**

The Black Waddle Doo emerged from a shadow in Whispy Woods. Breathing heavily after the battle he had just experienced, he sat down against a tree and groaned.

"How?! How could I lose to that... that girl?!"

"Maybe it's because you got overconfident?" A voice chimed in from up in a tree nearby. The Black Doo jumped and whirled around toward the voice.

"Who's there?" He yelled. A blue Waddle Dee dropped out of the tree he had been relaxing in.

"Afraid of a Waddle Dee?" He asked with a sneer. (Well, as much of a sneer as a Waddle Dee can give, anyway...)

"Not a Waddle Dee. I'm only afraid of what I can't see." The Doo replied, aggravated.

"So, you're an Elemental, right?" The Dee asked. The Doo gave a blank stare.

"A what?"

"You don't know of the prophecy of the Elementals?" The Dee inquired with a slightly stunned look on his face. The Doo simply shook his head. "Wow... That surprises me. You _are_ an Elemental, right...?"

"Well, I can control Shadow..." The Doo responded, holding up a stub and forming a Shadow ball to demonstrate. The Dee nodded.

"Yeah, you're an elemental all right."

"Okay... So what? What's the prophecy you mentioned?"

"There are eight Elementals. I just so happen to be the Elemental of Water. You seem to be the Elemental of Shadow. There are six more, and finding them all could either prevent the end of the world... Or give someone ultimate power. Power that could be used to... I dunno, crush your enemies?" The Dee said slyly.

"You've caught my attention," The Doo said. "Tell me more."

"First... I gotta know your name." The Dee replied.

"My name... is Shayne." The Doo said, holding out a stub.

"And I'm Levi." The Dee said, accepting the stub-shake.

* * *

I walked up to the now frozen chunk of wall that Kody had slammed into. He was laying on the ground, slowly regaining consciousness. I helped him to his feet. He rubbed his head and groaned.

"Ember...?" He muttered.

"Yep! I won!" I said happily. He looked astonished.

"Are you serious?! You beat him?"

"Well, you don't have to sound so surprised." I muttered.

"Sorry." He chuckled. "Is Markus okay?"

"I'm not sure, actually. I went to you first." I said, glancing at the now-broken window Markus had been thrown through.

"Well, let's head over there now." Kody said, and started walking. I followed.

Markus was laying, unconscious in the middle of a giant pile of glass from the window. I also noticed, with shock, that he was also laying in a small pool of blood. I inhaled sharply. Kody reacted like the medic he was, and jumped through the window frame to check on Markus's wounds. I stayed outside.

"Looks like there's no shards of glass stuck in his skin..." Kody muttered. That thought made me shudder.

After a few minutes, Kody finally stood up.

"I really should have brought my medical bag with me..." He said, shaking his head. "I should've known one of would get injured on this mission eventually."

"Is he gonna be okay?" I asked, stepping through the window frame.

"Probably, but those wounds could still get infected. I'd need my medical bag to make sure they won't."

"Doesn't this place have a hospital?" I asked. He smacked his forehead.

"Yes! It does! Stay here with Markus while I go get some supplies." He said, jumping through the window frame and driving off in wheel form.

A few minutes after Kody left, Markus groaned and sat up, inhaling sharply through his pain.

"Oh, you're awake!" I said.

"Yes, indeed I am./  
Please, tell me what came to pass,/  
After I was thrown."

"Uh, well Kody attacked the Black Doo, but ended up slamming into a wall... The Black Doo attacked me, but I beat him with my fire and electricity. By accident." I muttered the last part. Markus chuckled.

"So where is Kody?/  
Was he injured terribly,/  
By his collision?"

"No, he's off getting some medical supplies from the hospital." I replied.

"Why does he need those?/  
Did somebody get injured/  
In the encounter?"

"Uh... yeah. _you_ did."

"Nonsense. I'm okay.../  
Just a few minor scratches./  
No big deal, really."

"Uh..." I looked at the multiple bloodstains on his ninja garb and shook my head. "Kody did say you should be okay, but those cuts could still get infected, so that's why he needs supplies."

A few minutes later, Kody returned. Despite Markus's protests, Kody proceeded to apply some kind of anti-infection stuff on the wounds. During the silence as he was doing this, I decided to ask the question that had been bothering me.

"So... That black Waddle Doo is the elemental of Shadow, right?"

"Seems likely." Kody replied.

"So... Isn't he supposed to be on our side then?"

"Not all of them are./  
At least two are against us,/  
Says the prophecy."

"Okay... well, we know the Elemental of Shadow is one of them... Who's the other one?" I asked.

"I doubt the legend is very specific about it..." Kody muttered, only half-paying attention.

"Also, how are we supposed to know who any of them are? I had the dream about the Waddle Doo, but what are we supposed to do about the others?"

"Well-" Markus started, but I wasn't done.

"And why does it seem like all the Elementals got kicked out of their villages? And why did I have to be changed into a Kirby, but Markus didn't? And why does Markus talk so weird? And-" Then I noticed Kody and Markus were staring at me. "...Sorry." I muttered.

"Okay, first off," Kody said, " Not _all_ the Elementals got kicked out of their villages... Markus didn't. It's probably just coincidence that three so far have. Secondly, Markus hasn't been transformed yet because each Elemental can only use their transformation power once. The last one we find will have to complete the circle. Thirdly... I actually don't know why Markus talks so weird, but I _do_ know it's called haiku. Though I'm not sure if he just prefers it, or if he can only speak that way." After the last answer, he looked at Markus for confirmation. Markus nodded, and said,

"I don't prefer it./  
I cannot speak normally./  
Only in haiku."

"Oh..." I said. "But why? Were you born that way, or..." I stopped, realizing I was being a bit rude.

"It was by magic/  
That I was cursed years ago/  
By an evil witch."

"...Oh." I said and decided not to ask any more about it. I got all my answers. "By the way, sorry about the outburst. I've just had all these questions swirling around in my head since I found Zack in the woods." Kody waved his stub.

"No big deal. Any more?" I thought about it before answering,

"Not at the moment..."

"All right, good. Because we need to get moving now." Kody said. I blinked.

"To where? How are we supposed to know where we're going with no leads?" After I said it, I realized I had already asked that question, but it hadn't been answered.

"Well, I talked to some of the still-conscious locals, and they told me two things: One, the black Waddle Doo who attacked us? His name is Shayne. He apparently attacked a shopkeeper yesterday using some kind of black magic. Of course, the village elders kicked him out, not expecting him to take revenge like this."

"Wow..." I said. I was mad when I was kicked out of my village, but I couldn't image trying to destroy the place because of it. "And the other thing?"

"The second thing is that we should go to the Waddle Dee village, which is within five miles of here. Apparently, there's a strangely colored resident there who seems to have control of water. His name is Levi. I think we've found our Water Elemental!"

"Good news, to be sure./  
And we may find a lead there/  
About the next one." Markus said, standing up.

"_And let's hope _this_ one is on _our _side_" I thought.

-End of Chapter 7!-

-Nashew

* * *

**Author's Note: *whew* This chapter was a bit of an exposition dump, huh? **

**On another note, Markus's haiku is getting increasingly easier to write, so I guess that's good.**

**Please review, Thanks for reading, and see ya next time for Chapter 8!**


	9. Chapter 8: To The Next Village

**Author's Note: I've had this chapter written for over a week now, I just forgot about this story! xD **

**Oh, this chapter gets a little more violent then usual, just thought I'd point that out.**

**Anyway, time for replies:**

** Ecaroh:**

**1. Did I? *checks previous chapter* Oh, I did! Thanks for pointing it out. Fixed now.**

**2. Mmhmm, it's not typical.**

**3. What did I do there? Unless you're referring to Levi's jeans...?**

**4. I have NO idea! Must not be that good, eh? :P**

* * *

Even though the Waddle Dee village was less than five miles away, it was getting dark when we left the Waddle Doo village, so we ended up having to camp out in the open fields again. Like last time, Markus stayed awake to keep watch. I guess Ninjas don't need to sleep or something... Anyway, I had another weird dream that night...

* * *

In a dark, quiet village full of houses with dark windows (Some were dimly lit), two figures moved quietly through the night, feet crunching lightly on the dry grass. One of them appeared to be a Waddle Dee, light blue in color. The other was the Black Waddle Doo from earlier, whose name I had learned from Kody. _What_ _was it again? Oh, yeah. Shayne._

"You sure this is gonna work, Levi?" Shayne asked.

"Of course. The remaining Waddle Doos in your village undoubtedly told the other elementals about me. They'll probably be here by tomorrow afternoon." The Dee, whose name seemed to be Levi, replied.

"Then we spring the trap and make 'em join us!" Shayne answered with some kind of evil glee in his voice.

"Exactly." Levi replied, "And if they don't... We kill them."

* * *

I woke up in a cold sweat. If what I had just seen was as accurate as my last dream...

"Markus!" I whispered. He turned and gave me a questioning look. "We can't go to the Waddle Dee village tomorrow!"

"Why do you say that?/  
Did you have another dream?/  
Tell me about it." He whispered back, turning his full attention to me.

I described it, stressing the fact that there was a trap. He nodded and said,

"We'll figure this out/  
When we're all up and awake./  
Tomorrow morning."

I sighed and tried to get a little more sleep. I couldn't, so I just sat there looking out at the huge open field, seeing movements off in the distance that were probably just wild animals roaming around, scavenging for food. The moonlight faintly reflected off the dewy grass. I finally managed to drift off to sleep.

When I felt the sun shining on my face, I knew it was time to get up. I looked around and saw the smoldering remains of the campfire from last I heard Kody's voice saying,

"Good morning, Ember./  
Did you sleep well last night?/  
Or did you... Wait, that was only six syllables. Ugh, never mind." Kody was apparently not good at haiku. I grinned, thought for a second and, with my best imitation of Markus's voice said,

"Stick with normal speech./  
Cuz you will probably fail,/  
To produce haiku." Kody nodded in approval.

"That was pretty good! By the way, Markus is right behind you." I yelped and turned around quick. He wasn't there, and Kody started laughing. "Gotcha!" He said. I just laughed along with him and called him a jerk. Then I realized Markus actually wasn't near the campsite and asked Kody about it.

"Oh, he went off to scout ahead or something." He said with a wave of his stub. "He told me before he left that you had another nightmare, though...?" He looked genuinely concerned about this, and I didn't know why, but I replied,

"Well, kinda. It was another vision, actually." He gave me a weird look. I told him what I saw.

"Hmm..." He muttered pensively. "So if these dreams really _are_ visions, this could mean big trouble for us..." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"What do you mean, _if_?" I said, frowning. He shrugged and said,

"I just mean, not every dream that shows you something is necessarily a vision, that's all." I was about to say something, but then Markus came back from scouting.

And I don't mean he just walked back into the camp, either. He suddenly _appeared _in front of us in a puff of smoke. I screamed, jumped about a foot in the air, and accidentally burst into flames before falling back on the ground. I looked up. Kody was holding a ball of ice back as if to throw it. Markus was staring at him with a raised eyebrow. I laughed nervously. Kody lowered his hand and sighed.

"Markus, don't _do _that!" He exclaimed.

"Geez, tense much, Kody?" I asked, standing up. He rolled his eyes and didn't say anything.

* * *

A few hours later, around noon, we arrived at the Waddle Dee village. I was glad to get there, too. There was a lot of shade from all the trees, and it was starting to get _hot._ It was a much more humble-looking place than the Waddle Doo village. Whereas the Doo village had a wall around it (now with huge holes busted in it thanks to Shayne's attack), the Dee village just had some wooden fencing. Also, the Doo village had guards patrolling and looked a lot more like a city, with paved sidewalks, and the Dee village had no guards and looked more like a village with dirt paths. There were wooden cabins scattered haphazardly throughout the village, with one of them being much bigger than the others. _That one must be the village chief's place. _I noted.

As we neared the village, I started feeling really nervous. The ambush was coming, I knew it. I glanced at Markus. I could tell he was in "high alert mode," so hopefully, he'd be able to sense any attacks coming. _Hopefully._

Our feet crunched lightly on the dirt road as we walked. _This place seems deserted... _I thought, looking around. There was nobody around at all. I looked at Markus again. He looked even more intense than before.

After a short walk to the village elder's house, the three of us stood in front of the door. I knocked. No answer. I looked at Kody and Markus. Kody was glancing around, clearly uneasy. Markus was still intense. Then I saw some movement and looked past them. There, standing about twenty feet away from us on the dirt path was the light blue Waddle Dee I saw in my dream who was apparently known as Levi. I nudged Kody and nodded toward Levi. We walked toward him uncertainly.

"Hello, friends!" Levi yelled, waving as we approached him. _He seems nice enough... And I don't see Shayne anywhere... _I thought as we got closer. When we were close enough to converse, I noticed a few things about him I hadn't seen in my dream. Firstly, his eyes looked very strange. They weren't red or anything, but they just loked... different than they eyes of normal Waddle Dees. Secondly, he had a small tuft of hair hanging down almost to his eyes. Then I realized something else: He was the Water Elemental... And I was extremely weak to water. I remembered what happened after the dragon's attack in the Biospark Order's village. I got soaked with some water and was unconscious for a few _hours._ I tried not to look nervous, but was now kinda hiding behind Kody.

"Hello." Kody said curtly to Levi. The Waddle Dee managed to look like he was smiling somehow, and replied,

"I'm gonna get right down to business here since you already seem to know what's going on." With a _thwump_, Shayne dropped out of a tree and landed behind us, looking really angry, red eye glowing slightly. We were now effectively surrounded, as there were buildings to our right and left. _Nowhere to run... _

"What do you want?" Kody said coldly and looking angrier than I'd ever seen him.

"It's a simple proposition, really." Levi said, sounding like a businessman (BusinessDee?). "Oh, but listen to me, prattling on without even introducing ourselves! How very rude of me!" I rolled my eyes. _Why is he acting so nice when he's just gonna kill us if we don't accept his little proposition? _

"My name is Levi. I'm the Elemental of Water." Levi said with a slight bow. "And this..." He said, gesturing to Shayne and motioning for him to introduce himself.

"My name is Shayne. We've met already. I'm the Elemental of Shadow, in case you idiots didn't catch on already." Shayne said sounding bored and glaring. I noticed he wasn't glaring at Markus or Kody. He was glaring at _me._ I gulped and shrank toward Kody a little. Levi shook his head and said,

"Such rudeness, Shayne! Show a little courtesy!" I rolled my eyes again. "Anyway," He continued, "Our little proposition is that, since you already seem to be gathering the Elementals, if you would join us on our little conquest?" I raised an eyebrow. _Conquest? Come to think of it, why _are_ they doing this? _Kody voiced my thoughts for me.

"What conquest?" He said, narrowing his eyes. Levi grinned smugly.

"Why, our conquest of the world, of course!" He stated the fact as if it were supposed to be obvious. I decided to speak up.

"Uh, yeah, we're trying to _save_ the world here, not destroy it..." Levi shook his head and sighed.

"Well, I guess we can't convince you, can we?"

"No." Kody and I both said at the same time. I realized Markus had kept silent through this whole conversation. _I guess haiku doesn't fit into a conversation like this... _I thought. Shayne looked almost happy to hear this, but Levi looked genuinely upset.

"Well..." He started sadly, "If that's the way you want it..." He instantly blasted Markus with a strong stream of water that came out of his hand. Fortunately, Markus was still on high alert mode, and saw it coming. He managed to dodge. But suddenly, I had my own problems.

Before I knew what was happening, Shayne had tackled me to the ground and had me pinned. He raised a stub and a Shadow Ball started forming on it.

"Revenge is sweet." He said with what really did look like a wicked grin. I screamed as I was suddenly enveloped in darkness. I vaguely heard Kody yell my name, but I drifted off into unconsciousness quickly.

* * *

...ber!...

Em...

Ember!...Ember! Wake up, please!

I groaned.

"Ember? Oh,come on, please wake up..." It was Kody's voice. I opened my eyes slightly, expecting to be blinded by the sun. But I wasn't, because it was night.

"K...Kody?" I muttered, sitting up and opening my eyes the whole way.

"Oh, thank Nova, you're awake." Kody said with a relieved sigh.

"What happened...?" I said, shaking my head. Kody helped me to my feet.

"Are you okay?" He asked me, looking concerned.

"Y...Yeah, I think so. What happened?" I asked again. Kody looked at the ground. "Kody? What's going on?" I was officially freaked out now. Something really bad had happened.

"It... It's Markus." He managed.

"What? What happened to him?"

"He... Shayne... Well..." He could barely speak. He pointed off to our right. I looked over...

And there was Markus. Laying on his back, red ninja garb stained an even darker shade of crimson around the pure black spear sticking out of his stomach (Or as close as you can get to that. It was more like his face). He wasn't moving. It didn't look like he was breathing. I gasped.

"No..." I whispered. "Did... Did you see it happen?" I asked, looking at Kody. He nodded.

"Shayne... Shayne formed the spear and threw it at me, but... But Markus jumped in front of me and... And..." He was too choked up to continue, but I got the point. _Markus saved Kody's life. _

We stood there for about a minute, neither of us really knowing what to say. And then something weird happened. There was a completely unexpected explosion of light around Markus's body that was so bright that if I hadn't closed my eyes, I probably would've gone blind.

When the light faded, Markus was still laying on the ground, but he was no longer a red Biospark with a pure black spear sticking out of his stomach. He was a red Star Warrior with yellow feet, the Ninja ability and a rather ugly-looking scar on his stomach. And most importantly, _He was alive!_

Kody and I stared at Markus in awe, and he stared right back at us. After a long, _long_ silence, I finally voiced what I had been thinking the whole time.

"**What the ****_heck_**** just happened?!"**

-End of Chapter 8!-

-Nashew

* * *

**Author's note: Had you guys worried there for a minute there, didn't I? Also, this is the first chapter to break 2,000 words! Yayyy! :D**

**See ya next time for Chapter 9!**


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